Sharing their story for 50 years

HILLSDALE, Wis. — Gerald Ford held the presidency, the U.S. withdrew from the Vietnam War, and Saigon fell. The SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior, “Jaws” was released in theaters and the game show “Wheel of Fortune” premiered. The year was 1975, and a group of Barron County dairy farmers banded together to hold the first of what would become the longest-running dairy breakfast in Wisconsin.

June 7 dawned on the 50th Barron County Dairy Breakfast, which served a record-setting 3,525 people, said co-chair Kim Barta, who has been involved with the breakfast for 45 of those 50 years.

“Most people are two, three or even four generations removed from the farm,” Barta said.

Barta said events like this play an important role in Wisconsin’s dairy industry.

“It’s a great thing to get them out on the farm, to see what we do,” Barta said. “Education is the most important aspect of the breakfast for me.”

The host site of the golden breakfast was the farm of Ben and Sandee Kraft and their family. The Krafts milk 50 cows near the village of Hillsdale, in south-central Barron County. This year marks the second time the Krafts have hosted the event. They also hosted the breakfast in 2021.

“Someone has to keep the tradition going,” Ben Kraft said. “I like promoting the dairy industry, it’s a big thing. It keeps my livelihood going, this is what I love, what I want to do. It’s got to survive to keep me going.”

For Barta, becoming involved in hosting the annual event was a natural progression, becoming involved with the county’s dairy promotion group after graduating from college and beginning his own dairy farming career.

Barta works together with Wayne Pederstuen to coordinate the event each year along with fellow committee members Audrey Kusilek, Bruce Hanson, Tim Jergenson, Al Schutz, Don Dipprey and Kevin Splett.

With nearly a half century of experience, Barta and Pederstuen have created a process that works for them. In a typical year, Barta said the committee has its host family lined up by the first of the year. Planning meetings get underway in earnest in March, with designated committees overseeing various aspects of the breakfast.

It takes over 150 volunteers each year to make the breakfast work, covering aspects from parking to cooking, setting up and cleaning up, serving and waiting tables. The Barron County FFA chapters are all involved, helping to staff the event.

“We pretty much always serve over 3,000 people,” Barta said “In 2024 we served just over 3,400. It was great to really crush that record for our 50th.”

Barta believes the future of the event looks strong, in large part due to the people of Barron County.

“We have a lot of businesses that like to be involved, so getting workers in usually is not too hard,” Barta said. “We have a farm lined up for next year, and several others that have expressed interest in hosting in the next few years.”

Barta said the next step is continuing to bring the next generation into the event.

“We’d really like to see some younger people get involved with the planning,” Barta said.

Hosting the milestone year added another dimension to the typical breakfast attractions — a display that encompassed the long-standing tradition, a task that Kathy Splett said she found both daunting and fascinating. Splett served as chairperson of the breakfast for 24 years, from 1981 through 2005.

“It was a challenge getting all the history gathered up,” Splett said. “I had things from the years I was the chairperson, but I had to search for everything else. I made a lot of calls to a lot of people.”

Finding artifacts and memorabilia was the most difficult for the earliest years, before she became involved with putting on the event. Splett said before she worked to spearhead the breakfast, the task was done by the county’s Farm Bureau.

“The breakfast really has value in our community,” Splett said. “We have shared the story of the dairy farmer for years, and now we have a lot of history of our own. We’ve got it to this point; I hope we can keep adding to it for many more years.”

A tradition the Barron County Dairy Promotion Committee has adopted is to gift the host farm with a barn-quilt-sized Real Seal to display on their farm, as a way to promote real dairy to passers-by.

Barta said the committee has most things figured out, but each year presents its own issues.

This year, eggs had the committee on the edge of their seats.

“The eggs were close,” Barta said. “I got word that we had our liquid eggs sourced just a week before the breakfast. I was getting nervous; I wasn’t looking forward to cracking all those eggs.”

Barta said each year they use approximately 840 pounds of liquid eggs to serve breakfast-goers, which is the equivalent of nearly 7,800 eggs. The eggs are mixed with over 140 pounds each of shredded cheese donated by Associated Milk Producers Inc. and diced turkey ham donated by Jennie-O.

The breakfast is truly a family event, Barta said, as it has reached people far beyond the Barron County line. Barta said he has family members who come help from Colby in central Wisconsin to as far away as Bowie, Maryland. Different hosts have had family members travel from as far as California and Texas. Last year a local foreign exchange student from Lebanon attended the breakfast. This year two young women from India, visiting their aunt in Rice Lake, contacted Barta, asking to volunteer at the breakfast.

“We started out just simply wanting to celebrate the industry,” Barta said. “Then we moved into education being our priority. I think it’s great that we’ve been able to reach an audience far beyond our local communities, and are able to share the story of our dairy industry across the county and even on a global level.”